


Stranger Danger

by Imagining_in_the_Margins



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Parenthood, Self-Insert, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:54:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imagining_in_the_Margins/pseuds/Imagining_in_the_Margins
Summary: Reader is a single mother having a very bad day.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 127





	Stranger Danger

You know those days where everything is going wrong? Today was one of those days. I'd woken up to find out our water heater incapable of functioning, the coffee pot broken, and I thought I had just lost my child in the park. Okay. I didn’t think, I knew I had. It had happened. 

I’m a good mother, I swear. I promise I am. But today had been trying me. I knew my child was rambunctious, but I never expected them to bolt off the second I looked away. Of course, it had to be a beautiful weekend so everyone and their mother was at the park.

I tried to remain calm, shouting their name every couple of seconds as I poked around the area. It had only been a few minutes. I’m sure they are fine. Oh god, what if they’re not? What if someone took them?

But then, there they were. I saw them holding hands with a man who did not blend in. He was very tall and thin, with an undoubtedly _quirky_ outfit. But that’s not what caught my attention first, no. It was the gun I saw holstered on his hip as he went to pick up my child.

Frantically pushing my way through the crowd, I shouted with the unbridled rage of a mother grizzly, “Hey!”

He turned to me, equal parts shocked and afraid, standing up to face me, still holding onto my child’s hand.

“Who the fuck are you?” I yelled, not letting him answer before I grabbed his wrist, separating the two and sweeping my child closer to me with my arm.

I pulled them close, looking up at the stranger as I barked, “ **That’s not your kid, back the fuck off!** ” 

The man had both his hands in the air, but the frenzied look in his eyes made me doubt his innocence. Then again, he mostly just looked unsettled. Still. He had been about to take my child.

“Ma’am, I’m so sorry. Please, listen—“

“Please, enlighten me as to why you were about to walk off with my kid,” I laughed bitterly as I picked up my child, thankfully still light enough at three years old to be cradled in my arms. I wasn’t going to let them slip away again.

“I’m an FBI agent. Look, I’m going to show you my badge.” Oh, well. Fuck, I thought. If he was for real, I might actually be in trouble. Of _fucking_ course.

He held his badge open, and I felt my heart stop. Sure enough, it had a faintly similar picture (obviously taken some time ago), with the name “Spencer Reid” above the title “SSA.” Releasing a long breath, I raised a hand to massage my temple. “Shit.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I scared you.” He sounded sincere, but I was still in defensive mode. 

“I’m not a bad mom,” I blurted out. His eyebrows furrowed and he pressed his mouth into a quirked line.

“I never said you were.”

“Yeah,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Of course not. But I know you think I am.” I bounced my child gently against my side, trying to distract them from the anger I was harboring. Today sucked.

“Do you have any kids?” I asked, barely able to compose myself.

“No, I don’t.” I shook my head at his simple response, fully expecting a lecture. 

“Yeah, you don’t get it, then. It-It’s hard.”

“Ma’am, I really need you to understand that I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.” A shaky sigh left my lips as I felt something nagging in the back of my head. Was this where he told me he really doesn’t think it’s that bad but that he'd still have to report me?

“If you’re going to report me or some shit please just do it so I can go home.” I tried to get ahead of it. Better to have no expectations than be disappointed, right?

I glanced over at my child, their chin resting gently on my shoulder. They looked so guilty.

“I’m… not going to report you?” His inflection made the statement seem confused more than anything, but I still couldn’t trust him.

“My apologies if I have a hard time believing a man when it comes to my child,” the words were laced with bitter venom that he honestly didn’t deserve.

“Are you on your own?” His words were laced with pity. Normally it would bother me, but I also sensed sympathy in his voice. He had a story, too, I reminded myself.

“Yes.” I gave a curt response, which apparently told him everything he needed to know. He nodded solemnly, looking at the child now peeling their upper half from mine, avoiding my eyes as they plead, “I’m sorry, mommy.”

The words broke my heart, and a sharp inhale of breath was my attempt not to cry. I switched my kid over to my other side, looking them in the eyes that only slightly resembled their father.

They were so much better than him. I kissed them on the nose, saying as sweetly as I could, “Don’t apologize, baby. I love you. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

I kissed them once more, giving a hug that was probably a little too tight. Spencer watched me with eyes that weren’t judging, rather… observing. Remembering? Something I couldn’t place

A phone began to ring, and I realized I hadn’t seen my phone in awhile. Lowering my child, I instructed them to hold onto my shirt while I dug through my purse.

“Dr. Reid here,” I heard the man’s voice, but quickly got lost in my own mission. I kept checking to make sure that tiny hand was on my shirt.

But then I noticed I’d lost my phone.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” The hushed tones did not help. Spencer noticed my panic and hung up. “Is everything alright?”

“I lost my fucking phone.” The words alone were enough to spike my emotional instability once again. 

“I have no idea where I left it. I’m sorry, I have to go find it. Thank you for your help.”

Replacing the bundle of fabric in my child’s hand with my own, I went to walk away, but Spencer hurriedly called, “Wait!”

Closing the distance between us, he started to walk on the other side of my child. “Let me help you.”

“I don’—“ he didn’t let me protest, speaking over me to say, “I know, I know you don’t need it. I want to help. Okay? After all, I’m in law enforcement and you’re a member of the public in need, so… it’s sort of my job.”

I didn’t buy his spiel for a second, but at the same time I did appreciate his help. He hadn’t done anything to deserve my wrath yet. I rattled off my phone number to him in response, but he didn’t seem to understand why for a moment. Once he did, he pulled his phone back out and began typing.

“Do I need to repeat it?” I asked, a smug grin on my face as I noticed for the first time how cute this man could be in his overwhelmed state.

“Uhhh, no. I got it. Dialing now.” I was a little impressed; half the time I can’t remember my own phone number. He was so focused now, closing his eyes to listen through the commotion. For a second I let myself be distracted, just looking at him.

“Which way did you come from?” He asked, opening his eyes to catch me staring at him. Now my turn to be shy, I looked around for a moment and pointed to the left. Letting me lead, he followed closely beside us, still listening.

“Mommy, why do you keep staring at him?” The young voice piped up between us, and my face turned bright red as Spencer glanced over to see I was, sure enough, staring straight at him.

“M-mommy’s looking for her phone, dear. Don’t worry about it.” I stammered, trying to bring us back to the current mission.

The toddler wasn’t gonna let me off that easy, fake whispering, “Does he have your phone?”

I felt like I was going to die, and glanced around instead of answering the question, quickly noticing the bench I had rested my bag on earlier.

“Oh, I was over there!” I spoke loudly enough to hide the crack in my voice from the absolute and utter humiliation of my own toddler pointing out that I was ogling the man who was trying to help us.

Spencer seemed to notice something in the grass underneath the bench, even from this far away. He jogged over, getting on his knees in the damp grass and pulling my phone out from underneath the bench.

He looked so pleased as he waved it in my direction before tapping at the screen, surely revealing a selfie of me and my child. We hurried over to join him, and I sighed with relief as I took my phone from him.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Reid. I really, really appreciate your help.”

“Of course. It’s not problem, I’m happy to help.”

I unlocked the phone, noticing the two missed calls from an unfamiliar number. Peeking up at him, I wondered if he was also staring down at my number on his phone. I tapped my thumb against the side of my phone for a moment before I worked up the courage to ask, “It was… Spencer, right? Dr. Spencer Reid?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” his voice quiet and cautious as he looked down at his phone once more. “What about you? What’s your name?”

“My name is (y/c/n)!” A little voiced enunciated clearly, and I laughed as my child was still trying to steal my thunder. I ruffled their hair before praising them with a tender, “Yes it is, baby.”

I looked back up at the relative stranger who seemed so enamored with the sight of us. He was still waiting for my answer.

“Why are you asking?” I replied instead.

“I’m assuming for the same reason you asked me.” For someone who was so easily affected by my maternal rage, I was surprised he could be so bold!

“So you could google me to see if I was lying about being an FBI Agent?” I joked, mostly just to see how he would reply. The small, nervous laugh he gave was good enough for me.

“Ouch,” he muttered before looking down at himself. “I’m that unconvincing, huh?”

I had to admit he was funny, because I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I couldn’t remember the last time I'd had fun like this. It had been so long since I felt a genuine connection to another person that wasn’t my own flesh and blood.

I glanced down to see my child’s eyes bouncing back and forth between the two of us, a contemplative look on their face.

“Did you thank Dr. Reid for helping you?” I asked with a gentle pat on their head.

“Thank you, Mister Doctor Reid,” the shy voice said.

“Oh, you are most welcome,” was all Spencer could say before the little one was back behind my legs, although hiding a little less now.

“Hey, I’m really sorry I took up so much of your time. And that I screamed at you. It’s just been a really… difficult couple of weeks.” I stepped closer to him as I spoke, a hand over my toddler’s free ear. I didn’t like him hearing me talk about his father if I could avoid it.

“Oh, god, don’t apologize. I completely understand. Actually, truth be told, I think it’s a bit of karmic justice.” That made me wonder.

I tilted my head to the side, and so he continued. “When I was really young I also had a tendency to wander off, and I know it must have been really hard on my mom. Especially when it was just the two of us.”

The words validated me more than I thought. It was refreshing to know that my child wasn’t already doomed. “Well, I’m glad to know you did well for yourself.”

“Yeah…” he trailed off, clearly not convinced. We both paused, trying to remember what we were doing.

“Psst… Mommy. You never told him your name,” I heard a hushed but authoritative whisper from my side. I looked down to see my sassy spawn looking up at me like I was an idiot.

“Oh, I didn’t, did I?” I laughed, facing Spencer before announcing, “(Y/n).”

“Got it,” he responded, typing happily away at his phone before it began ringing again.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. You got a call earlier, too, didn’t you?”

He silenced the ringer, putting his phone away as he ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I’m actually supposed to be meeting someone nearby.”

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! Please go, I don’t want to hold you back.” I tried to motion for his to head off, but he spoke very clearly and with such confidence it almost made me blush.

“You’re not.”

“You flatter me, but I’m certain you have better things to do than rescue a damsel in distress.” It was a bit of a self deprecating joke, but he was prepared to counter even that.

“Well, I have to agree. But mostly because you seem very capable of doing that yourself.”

“If you don’t stop that, I’m gonna have to keep you around, Dr. Reid.” The grin he returned was as flattering as it was heartwarming. I wasn’t used to such authentic admiration. Clearly, neither was my little one, because they piped up very confidently and said the exact last thing I wanted to hear.

“Yeah, you can be my new dad!”

**_Fuck_**. 

The nausea that immediately slammed into my body from the embarrassment could have killed me.

“Honey!” I shrieked, tugging gently on their arm to pull them back. They didn’t know. I know that. But **oh my** ** _god_**.

I started to apologize, but when I looked back at Spencer he had already taken a knee. Looking straight into the face of the child who had just said the most mood ruining line of all time, he covered his mouth from me even though I could clearly hear his voice.

“(Y/c/n), can I tell you a secret?” They both looked up to me for permission, and I nodded with an absolutely terrified but entertained look on my face.

“Sure,” my kid loudly whispered back, mirroring his tone.

“I didn’t have a dad when I was growing up, either. I spent a long time wishing that I did. But when I got older I realized something. Do you know what it was?” Both of us were so captivated that I almost shook my head, too.

“I realized that my mom loved me enough for the both of them.” 

What he said truly cut into my soul, ripping the air from my lungs. It hit me so much I was actually worried that there might be visible tears forming when he looked up to me with a tender smile.

“And I know your mom loves you just as much. So don’t worry about a dad yet. I don’t think you need one.” A proud nod was given in response, and I leaned over to pick up my kid as Spencer also stood.

I mouthed a silent, “Thank you.” He just nodded back, pivoting to leave even though we both clearly didn’t want to.

“Hey, Dr. Reid,” I spoke, not sure what to say. He faced me, but also said nothing. I stammered, trying to come up with something before I finally yelled out, “if you ever want to, you can… you know. You can call me. If you want.”

He bit his bottom lip, a pathetic attempt to hide his forming smile. I didn’t even try to hide mine. “I do. I will.”

“I’ll talk to you soon, then.” I raised a single hand to wave, and my child in my arms also gave a tiny goodbye. “Sure thing,” he replied, giving his own goofy salutation.

“He’d be a nice dad.” Now, how was I supposed to respond to that? I mean, they weren’t wrong.

After pondering my thoughts for a second, I responded. I knew it wasn’t proper, and that I was probably getting their hopes up, but my hopes were already there.

“Let’s start with just calling him Spencer, and we’ll see what happens. Sound good?”

There were no objections, and I realized that all things considered… 

Today had actually been pretty good day.


End file.
